An interventional study of Carbon dioxide pre-implant endograft flushing followed by saline flushing and Saline endograft flushing in Type B Acute Aortic Syndrome and Thoracic and Thoracoabdominal Aneurysms With Crawford Extent I, II, III, or IV, sponsored by University of Bologna. Recruiting at 4 sites in Italy. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-29.
Sponsored by University of Bologna · Not applicable, Interventional, and Prevention
FlushTEVAR is a non-profit, interventional, randomized, controlled, single-blind, national multicenter study promoted by the University of Bologna and coordinated by the Vascular Surgery Unit of IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna, Policlinico di Sant'Orsola, under the direction of Prof. Mauro Gargiulo, who also serves as Principal Investigator. The study aims to develop and evaluate a pre-implant thoracic endograft flushing technique using carbon dioxide (CO₂) to reduce periprocedural embolic events and cerebral infarctions in patients undergoing Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair (TEVAR).
TEVAR is currently the treatment of choice for acute aortic syndromes and aneurysms involving the descending thoracic aorta. Despite its widespread use, TEVAR remains associated with significant neurological complications, with an incidence ranging from 3% to 8% in standard procedures and reaching up to 16% in more complex endovascular interventions. Cerebral embolization caused by solid and gaseous particles is considered the main cause of perioperative stroke and silent brain infarction (SBI), the latter being defined as ischemic brain injury detected by neuroradiological imaging in the absence of immediate clinical symptoms. During TEVAR, approximately 90% of microembolic signals detected in the middle cerebral artery are caused by gaseous emboli, with the highest number occurring during endograft deployment. This phenomenon is associated with the manufacturing and sterilization processes of endografts, during which gas microparticles become trapped between the endograft and its delivery system and are subsequently released into the bloodstream when the device is deployed at the intended aortic site.
The primary objective of the study is to assess the difference in the incidence of major neurological events, including stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA), as well as silent brain infarctions, between patients whose endografts undergo a standardized pre-implant flushing protocol with CO₂ followed by conventional saline flushing, and patients receiving standard saline flushing alone. Major neurological events will be assessed clinically, while silent brain infarctions will be evaluated using study-specific diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) of the brain performed within 72 hours after the procedure.
A total of 90 patients will be enrolled across four participating centers and randomized in a 1:1 ratio after providing informed consent. Forty-five patients will be allocated to the experimental arm and treated with CO₂ flushing before the standard saline flushing procedure during TEVAR, while forty-five patients will be allocated to the control arm and will receive standard saline flushing only.
Eligible patients must be at least 18 years of age and present with type B acute aortic syndrome in the acute, subacute, or chronic phase, or thoracic and thoracoabdominal aneurysms with Crawford extent I, II, III, or IV. Written informed consent is required for participation. Patients will be excluded if the procedure is performed using CO₂ angiography, if endografts without a sheath are used, if emergency endovascular treatment is required, if they have experienced a stroke or TIA within the previous six months, if the proximal sealing zone is 0 or 1, if any contraindication to DW-MRI is present, or in cases of pregnancy or breastfeeding.
At study completion, the two treatment groups will be compared on the basis of diffusion-weighted brain MRI findings. The primary endpoint is the number of silent brain infarctions and the determination of whether a statistically significant difference exists between the CO₂ flushing group and the saline flushing group. The safety of the procedure will be evaluated through both technical and clinical success. The planned study duration is three years, and postoperative rates of SBI and TIA/stroke will be compared between groups using Fisher's and Pearson's chi-square tests.
381 studies on the registry are indexed under Aneurysm; 78 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 90 is above the median of 46 across 235 interventional studies indexed under Aneurysm.
Browse Aneurysm studies →University of Bologna is the lead sponsor of 158 studies on the registry; 24 are open to participants now.
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Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
A “mini-stroke”: temporary stroke-like symptoms caused by reduced blood flow to part of the brain, spinal cord or eye, without signs of a new stroke on a scan.
Stroke symptoms need emergency care at once, even if they go away.
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
TIA (transient ischaemic attack)
A “mini-stroke”: temporary stroke-like symptoms caused by reduced blood flow to part of the brain, spinal cord or eye, without signs of a new stroke on a scan.
Stroke symptoms need emergency care at once, even if they go away.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraindication
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Procedure: Carbon dioxide pre-implant endograft flushing followed by saline flushing · Procedure: Saline endograft flushing
Procedure: Saline endograft flushing
The CO2 flushing technique is conducted using an automated injector with the application of standard injection volume and pressure. Specifically, the endoprosthesis will be flushed from the side port of the delivery system with 3 CO2 injections at 750 mmHg of pressure and 100 cc of volume.
Following the IFU, the endograft delivery system will be flushed with 60 ml of saline solution at 0.9%.
Assess the number and location of SBI using study-specific diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) and determine if there is a statistically significant difference of SBI number in the "CO2 arm", compared to the "saline solution arm".
The primary objective of the study is to assess the difference in terms of incidence (number) of ischaemic cerebral lesions, detected by DW-MRI after TEVAR, between patients whose endografts undergo a standardized pre-implant flushing protocol with CO₂ followed by conventional saline flushing, and patients receiving standard saline flushing alone,
Time frame: Up to 72 hours after endovascular repair
Technical and clinical success
Technical success: successfull endograft deployment, patency, absence of type I-III endoleak, retrograde dissections. Clinical success: absence of major stroke, death, paraplegia, major bleeding, acute kidney injury.
Time frame: Peri-operatively
Started Jul 2025 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Jul 2028, 36 months after the start.
Of 45 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Aneurysm, half reached primary completion within 75 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 12. This study's planned 36 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 83 studies reached it within 45 months; a quarter within 19 and three quarters within 134.
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